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Blame It On The Economy

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I've been half-teasing lately with my career services colleagues that the banks and GM aren't the only ones in need of a bailout. Job seekers should ask for one too. Why not? It seems that in today's environment the more corporate leaders mismanage their businesses, the more attractive they are for getting bailed out by the U.S. tax payer.

So why should job seekers be any different?

It is no secret that most job seekers are ill prepared for their job search. They spend money in the wrong places. They pin their hopes on the wrong things. They have very little idea of what to expect (although they think they know it all). They try all kinds of tricks and shenanigans to make things work for them.

And then they are upset when they don't have positive results. Or when they don't land the career of their dreams.

I spent a great deal of time the other day trying to work with this woman in Jackson, Mississippi. She's been searching for a job for a little less than 30 days, and she is looking for a sales position with an earning potential of about ~$150,000.

She's frustrated. She wants the resume “fixed,” she wants the economy “fixed,” she feels victimized by her last employer, and she wants this job search over within 45 days or else…..she doesn't know what “else” is exactly, but she really means it. It better be over in 45 days, or she is going to do something!

After talking her down off the ledge, I spent some time 1) discovering how she has been conducting her search so far and 2) figuring out where these expectations came from. As I suspected, kind of like the housing market, when people aren't making 150% profits from their homes, then they're suffering…

So you tell me, is my client from Jackson a victim of the economy or of herself:

When I explained to her that as a full-time job seeker, she should be sending out somewhere between 35 and 50 resumes per week (because she is only sending out ~5/week now), she told me that there weren't 35 to 50 jobs posted in her area in Jackson each week. Her exact words were “Recruiters are telling me to wait until after the new year.”

Like most job seekers, networking and cold calling are foreign concepts to her. Instead, she is just planning on waiting around for that job to open up (within 45 days or else, of course!).

When I asked her how she was spending her 40 hours/week since now she is unemployed, she confessed that she has no idea how much time she is really spending (remember she is only sending out ~5 resumes/week). But again, there was little for her to do because Jackson, MS, doesn't have many job postings…

When I told her the average job search time for someone making $150,000/year is about 4 months for ~40 hours/week of time spent searching, she simply recited to me all her stellar credentials. And then blamed Bush and the economy. When I told her that those stats are nothing new, and have been around for a while, she still blamed Bush.

Basically, no matter what I said, in her mind, if she didn't have a job offer within 45 days, either her resume service ripped her off or it was all Bush's fault.

So what am I to conclude here? You think maybe she is a rare case?

I'm afraid not.

Listen…is this a tough job market? Sure it is. I don't think that is in dispute. But tough does not mean impossible, and too many job seekers give up without hardly trying. And most of the time, they went into the search with poor expectations in the first place.

Perhaps the oddest thing about my friend in Jackson is that, of all things, she is a sales person. She can tell you all about the sales life cycle, all about branding and product positioning, all about selling in a tough market. But when it comes to her job search, she cannot apply those same principles.

It never ceases to amaze me just how emotional the job search process is. It challenges you to move outside of your comfort zone and put yourself out there. Most people go into it kicking and screaming, on a good day. So as soon as there is something out there to blame, to latch onto as the reason for all our problems, we so easily take the bait.

Then what are we left with? Demotivation? Looking for that genie in a bottle?

No worries. The government is into redemption these days.

Blame It On The Economy

Over the past few months, an overwhelming number of information sources have pummeled us with the notion that our economy is slowing down, and that we are headed for a recession. Some say we're already in a recession.

It is always a good move to understand the overall scene in which we do business. And it does make good sense to pay attention to economic indicators. But a weakening economy should not give you a reason for your sinking bottom line. If it does, then you may have just found the real cause for your bottom line: blaming it on the economy.

All too often, people believe the "reason" they are having a certain problem is due to something that is happening elsewhere (and usually outside of their control). This is especially true in the business world. Here is an example:

Shoe Store A is doing very well until Shoe Store B opens up across the street. Revenues and profits decline at Shoe Store A as Shoe Store B gets up and going. But, and this is a very important but, to the degree that the owner (and staff) at Shoe Store A attribute their decline in revenue to the existence of Shoe Store B, TO THAT DEGREE they will be unable to deal with it.

The owner and staff at Shoe Store A simply need to step back and realize they have some new competition and that they need to take very concrete steps to retain their current customers and create new customers. Perhaps they need to streamline their marketing and advertising effort. Maybe they actually need to do some marketing for the first time!

The reason sales are down at Shoe Store A is not Shoe Store B. Sales are down because Shoe Store A did not effectively shift their own gears to keep their business afloat and prosperous.

That may sound simplistic, but when an executive or business owner places the blame elsewhere, this very act of "placing blame elsewhere" reduces his ability to devise effective solutions. It actually reduces his ability to think straight, because s/he is so embroiled in what is happening somewhere else.

"Elsewhere" is not a place that you can easily control. In most instances, you have no control over "elsewhere." But you do have complete control over what happens internally within your business. You do have control over how efficient your staff are. You do have control over how well surveyed your marketing messages are. And you can control the level of care shown to your customers.

There are countless aspects of your business that you have control over. Those are the items that should occupy your time and focus. Complete focus. To the degree that you assign the source of a problem to "elsewhere", to that degree you will be incapable of handling your own scene. You're simply robbing yourself of the potential to execute and frankly it is just plain lazy to attribute your problems to an outside source.

One more example:

A dental practice considers it has "slow periods of the year." One such period is the end of the year. Numerous professionals believe the end of the year simply is not as productive as other parts of the year. And of course they have statistics to back up this belief. Every year, December is just very slow. Then there is the dentist who decided he was not going to have a slow December again. So, back in October and November, this dentist figured out a few things to do for December. He reminded his patients that most insurance companies do not allow you to carry over unused insurance from year to year. He offered his patients incentives to come in during the holiday season. He just plain worked on it so that his December was not a "slow period." The result? He now no longer believes in "slow periods" and of course he has the statistics to back up this new belief.

You can always find statistics to match a belief. If you believe you are going to have slow periods, you will have them. Why generate the needed insight, focus and hard work to fix something that you know and believe is not fixable?

The same is true on a broader scale with "the economy". If you believe "the economy" is the basis for your declining revenues, you are in more trouble than you need to be. Anything that is outside of your immediate control is just that: outside of your immediate control. Put your total focus on your internal scene and get yourself busy improving things there.

Leave "elsewhere" alone.

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About Author

Both Stephen Van Vreede & Stan Dubin are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Stephen Van Vreede has sinced written about articles on various topics from Get Ex Back, Careers and Job Hunting and Cover Letter. My company is called No Stone Unturned, and I am an MBA and certified professional résumé writer (CPRW). I have been a career consultant since 2002 with an additional 8 years of corporate hiring experience. You can check out my website that offers tools s. Stephen Van Vreede's top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.

Stan Dubin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Careers and Job Hunting, Small Business and Family. Stan Dubin is the author of ?The Small Business Success Manual.? This 200-page book contains new and innovative tools to help you increase your income and expand your business. For more information on this book, go to http://www.EffectiveBusinessTools.co. Stan Dubin's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.

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